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Tate McRae is proof that some pop stars are born this way. The Calgary, Alberta, native appears to have just exploded into our consciousness over the past year or so, but take a dive into the 21-year-old singer’s backstory, and you can see that she’s been laying the groundwork for her chart domination for more than half her life.
After starting dance lessons at 6 years old and focusing on her moves over vocals, McRae began entering a series of dance competitions in the U.S. At 13, she joined the cast of the 13th season of So You Think You Can Dance, coming in third place, making her the highest placing Canadian in the reality show’s history.
That led to some sweet follow-up gigs thanks to the dance-centric YouTube channel she launched in 2011, including dancing at a Calgary stop on fellow Canadian Justin Bieber’s 2016 Purpose world tour. Before pivoting to music, McCrea launched her “Create With Tate” video series in 2017, which morphed into focusing on original songs she’d written, including the sticky ballad “One Day,” which to date has racked up more than 40 million views.
Those videos helped McRae land a recording contract with RCA Records in 2019, which released her debut EP, All the Things I Never Said, in January 2020; the collection hit No. 16 on Billboard‘s Heatseekers albums chart and featured the lead single “Tear Myself Apart,” co-written by Billie Eilish and brother/producer Finneas.
Wasting no time, McRae was back in March 2021 with a second EP, Too Young to Be Sad, which included her breakthrough single, the brooding “You Broke Me First.” The song spent 38 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 17, marking McRae’s highest chart success to that point. In addition, Too Young to Be Sad was crowned the most streamed EP by a female artist on Spotify in 2021 and “You Broke Me First” was featured in more than one million TikTok videos. McRae was the youngest person included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2021, where the then-17-year-old took her place among such 20something stars as Lil Baby, Melanie Martinez, Roddy Richh, Gabby Barrett and Doja Cat.
Though her star really began rising in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic when everyone was trapped at home, McRae kept the creative fires burning, releasing her debut full-length studio album, I Used to Think I Could Fly, in May 2022. The album peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard 200 chart, with bubbly, jealousy-tinged single “She’s All I Wanna Be” spending 20 weeks on the Hot 100, where it ran up to No. 44.
Then things rocketed to a whole new level with the release of the lead single from McRae’s No. 4-charting sophomore album 2023’s Think Later, the angsty dance pop burner “Greedy.” The song was accompanied by a Great North-appropriate video featuring sexy ice rink dance routines and McRae cruising on the ice atop a Zamboni, which may have helped it race up to No. 3 on the Hot 100 tally.
Things kept humming along with the next single, the Bieber-esque pop kiss-off “Exes,” whose sultry, dance-heavy video paid homage to some of McRae’s inspirations, including Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera; the song topped out at No. 34 on the Hot 100. The beat went on with the third electro-pop single from the collection, “It’s OK I’m OK,” which grabbed attention for its skin-baring, street dancing music video.
Watch Billboard Explains: Tate McRae Rise to Pop Superstardom in the video above.
After the video, catch up on more Billboard Explains videos and learn about Peso Pluma and the Mexican music boom, the role record labels play, origins of hip-hop, how Beyoncé arrived at Renaissance, the evolution of girl groups, BBMAs, NFTs, SXSW, the magic of boy bands, American Music Awards, the Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Hot 100 chart, how R&B/hip-hop became the biggest genre in the U.S., how festivals book their lineups, Billie Eilish’s formula for success, the history of rap battles, nonbinary awareness in music, the Billboard Music Awards, the Free Britney movement, rise of K-pop in the U.S., why Taylor Swift is re-recording her first six albums, the boom of hit all-female collaborations, how Grammy nominees and winners are chosen, why songwriters are selling their publishing catalogs, how the Super Bowl halftime show is booked and more.
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This week in dance music: Tokimonsta announced the cancellation of her fall tour and postponement of her new album, Charli XCX and Troye Sivan hit NYC with their Sweat tour, Massive Attack announced a new series of climate action gigs, artists including SG Lewis and Mary Droppinz were announced as players in the electronic industry charity soccer tournament Copa del Rave, Barry Can’t Swim released his blazing hot “Still Riding,” the posthumous Sophie album was surprise-released weeks before it was scheduled to drop, Dom Dolla scored six ARIA award nominations, Kylie Minogue talked about the bananas success of “Padam Padam” then released another dancefloor banger, we premiered a performance with DJ Mita Gami and a 37-person orchestra that happened at Burning Man last month, FORM Arcosanti dropped the set times for its upcoming fest and we spoke with the founder of an annual dance show for charity that happens on the Vanderbilt University campus in Nashville.
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Beyond that, so many albums! These are the best new dance projects of the week.
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Eli & Fur, Dreamscapes
The London-born, Los Angeles-based duo release their second album, Dreamscapes, with the project sounding as hypnotic and ethereal as its name suggests. The pair maintain a depth and delicacy throughout, even when they dial up the bass lines and BPM. Altogether it’s a sleek, sophisticated, no-skips effort, with a song for each phase of the night — from getting yourself ready, to falling in love on that dancefloor to the moment of sunrise that’s as much a feeling as a naturally occurring daily event. The pair play a tight trio of shows in Los Angeles, New York City and London starting Oct. 12.
Lane 8, Childish
Earlier this month it became clear something was happening, or about to happen, in the Lane 8 universe when the artist wiped his Instagram account. Not long after, an assemblage of footage of the producer as a child — playing the piano, dressed up for Halloween, pulling his sister in a wagon — was posted. Three days later, on Sept. 16, he announced his fifth studio album, Childish. There would be no singles, just a complete album, out today. The artist himself summarizes the project’s ethos best, writing that as he’s watched his own children become more creative, “I understand now how important creating has always been for my own mental well being, and my sense of pride and worth. I remember such vivid feelings of infinite possibility while creating as a kid.
“Thinking about all of this made me realize that my own approach to art has changed a lot over the years,” he continues. “When you make a living off your art, people need to like what you make for the whole thing to work. A pressure to please others starts to creep into the creative process, whether you want it to or not. It was only by watching our kids create that I fully appreciated how much my own process had changed. It hurt to admit it at first, but what followed was a new sense of liberation and motivation, because i knew it didn’t have to be that way.”
The 10-track project, which features collaborations with Kasablanca, Sultan + Shepherd and more, is out on Lane 8’s own This Never Happened label.
Ben Böhmer, Bloom
The inimitable Ben Böhmer returns with his third studio album, Bloom, a nine-track demonstration of all the depth, lushness and absolute feeling the German producer is a master of. Out on Ninja Tune, the project finds him collaborating with luminaries like Lykke Li, Oh Wonder and Enfant Sauvage, the producer who’s also one half of The Blaze. Together this latter artist and Böhmer absolutely send it one of the album’s centerpieces, “Evermore,” a cinematic showstopper that balances an exquisite string arrangement, a shimmering bridge and production with serious muscle. Böhmer plays this weekend at Portola in San Francisco.
TSHA, Sad Girl
Almost exactly two years after the release of her debut album, Capricorn Sun, TSHA returns with its followup, Sad Girl. The album, out on Ninja Tune, opens with a spoken word collab with London-based poet Dan Whitlam, who proclaims the album’s thesis statement, “sometimes the sad feels better than feeling good, and that’s okay.” And in a music scene that’s perpetually pushing ideas of dancing! and fun! and that any given night at the club just might be the greatest night of your life!, TSHA here acknowledges that life sometimes the world and the dancefloor get awful blue, too — expressing the idea over a dozen tracks, and for the first time putting her own vocals on a few of them. The punchy, swirly “Take” is a standout, and the album closes with the equally tough and stylish “Fight.”
Justice, “Neverender (Kaytranada Remix)”
“Neverender,” a single and standout from Justice’s April album Hyperdrama gets an edit from fellow master Kaytranada, who strips the song or much of its heft, trading out the punchy layers of the original and swapping them for echo-ey drums, strings and a lot of chimes. Kaytra’s airy take comes alongside another warm edit from Rampa of Keinemusic. In addition to all that, Justice has released a new video for the original “Neverender,” which bathes the eyes in vintage anime. Justice plays Portola in San Francisco this weekend and will make their Hollywood Bowl debut on October 4.
Lszee, Lszee
After months of hype, French bass titan CloZee and the proudly heady producer Lsdream release their collaborative self-titled album. Playing like ear salve for anyone who enjoys camping festivals, bass music and tie-dye (preferably all at the same time), the album melds each producer’s celestially-leaning, world music influenced and thoroughly pummeling styles into a groovy, deep, totally fun 13-track collection. The spacey “Wook Whistle” is a sly nod to the fact that these two know exactly in which realm their hardcore fans exist, with the pair headlining the genre nexus of Red Rock Amphitheatre on Oct. 5-6 before headlining the Brooklyn Mirage October 12.
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Lady Gaga wasn’t quite ready to let her Joker: Folie à Deux character go, so she created an accompanying 13-track album titled Harlequin.
Joker: Folie à Deux follows Phoenix’s return as Arthur Fleck, a.k.a the Joker, who is now confined in Arkham Asylum. There, he meets Gaga’s Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, and they form a powerfully chaotic bond with the goal of causing mayhem across Gotham City. Unlike the first Joker film, the sequel includes a series of musical numbers, which is where fans see Gaga in her element.
“This idea of dual identities was always something that was a part of my music making,” Gaga shared in a new interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe of the inspiration behind Harlequin. “I was always creating characters in my music and when I made Lee for Joker, she just really had this profound effect on me. The film had so much music in it, so much music that I love, and I was able to discover the character through the story, through the music that we did live every day as well as dance and the costumes and the makeup. So I kind of had this deep experience with the character and she just didn’t really leave me creatively and I decided I wanted to make a whole album inspired by her.”
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She continued, “She’s a really complex woman and I think, particularly as a woman in music and a female producer, it was really fun to go, ‘This album will be and I will be what I want, when I decide, whenever I feel like it. If I want it to be blues, it’ll be blues. If I want it to be funk, it’ll be funk. If I want it to be soul, it’ll be soul.’”
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The project features covers of old classics — including reimagined showtunes like “Good Morning” (Singing in the Rain) and “If My Friends Could See Me Now” (Sweet Charity) — and “celebrates a figure who thrives on danger, who lives for the undefinable, and who embraces the beautiful chaos of her own dreams,” per a press release. Harlequin also features two original songs, the dramatic waltz “Folie à Deux” and the acoustic ballad “Happy Mistake.”
“BloodPop and I had written this together and then I kind of took it to the next place,” she said of “Happy Mistake,” before adding, “It was all in the image of the character, but also kind of at the very core of her soul, which is really just me. Every character I play, it just has me as the gravity. I am wrestling, on that record, with a lot of feelings about so much that I’ve been through as an artist, everything I went through growing up in the public eye, and the industry since I was a teenager.”
Ultimately, Gaga says filming the Joker film with Phoenix was a “really soulful experience” for her. “It’s like these two people find love in this really dark place and it brings them all the light,” she explained.
Watch Zane Lowe’s full interview with Lady Gaga below. Joker: Folie à Deux hits theaters on Oct. 4.
Tee Grizzley has been on a good run. First, he had Future on “Swear to God,” where the Atlanta rapper teased his recent mixtape by mentioning his alter-ego Pluto multiple times and starting the chorus off by rapping, “F—k your album, s—t ain’t slappin’ like my mixtape.” Then, Tee linked up with fellow Detroit rapper […]
This week, Billboard’s New Music Latin roundup and playlist — curated by Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors — features fresh new music from artists including new releases from Ryan Castro, Shakira and Rauw Alejandro, to name a few. Ryan Castro teams up with newcomer Hamilton for “A Poca Luz.” Produced by The Prodigiez, the track is a departure from Castro’s signature perreo and dives […]
Rod Wave is as consistent of an artist as they come. Having released a project every year since 2017, the Florida singer is checking off 2024’s box to continue his streak with Last Lap.
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Wave announced on Friday (Sept. 27) that his Last Lap album is slated to arrive on Oct. 11 via Alamo Records. If he debuts atop the Billboard 200 once again, that will give Rod four consecutive chart-toppers.
On the heels of “Passport Junkie,” the 26-year-old unleashed the poignant “Fall Fast in Love” as well on Friday. The second single from his upcoming album finds Rod Wave exploring how falling for a romantic interest very quickly can be a dangerous proposition in life, but he’s willing to roll the dice.
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“Fallin’ fast in love, it’s never been a safe thing/ Are you fallin’ fast enough/ They’ll tell you that we’re crazy/ If you’re not scared/ Yeah, I’ll be right here,” he croons.
Wave also released an accompanying visual to the sultry single, which delves into the puppy-love stages of a relationship in elementary school and grows into adulthood when the couple deals with life’s hurdles.
“Passport Junkie” served as the album’s lead single and notched Rod his 71st entry on the Billboard Hot 100 when it debuted at No. 61.
Following Last Lap‘s arrival, Rod Wave will hit the road for the Last Lap Tour with Moneybagg Yo and Toosii.
The North American trek kicks off in Phoenix on Oct. 19, and will make stops in Oakland, Sacramento, Houston, Dallas, Memphis, Lexington, Detroit, Chicago, Brooklyn, Boston, Baltimore, Philly, Nashville and Orlando, before wrapping up in Ft. Lauderdale on Dec. 18.
Rod Wave is riding high off the success of 2023’s Nostalgia. Wave’s fifth studio LP debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 137,000 total album-equivalent units sold in the first week. All 18 tracks from the LP also made the Billboard Hot 100.
MarÍa Becerra announced a break from social media on July 30 amid the European run of her world tour. Despite positioning herself at the forefront of Latin pop over the past year — including scoring her first two No. 1s on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 and selling out River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in record time — the 24-year-old simultaneously needed a hiatus from the scrutiny that she, and many of her peers, face online every day.
“I understand that social media is necessary for our careers,” she says. “But the limit is reached when they start taking away my joy.”
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Why did you decide to take a social media break?
It was doing me wrong to read so much hate — I was really affected by comments that only had the intention to harm [me]. The attack on women’s bodies who are part of the [music] scene is constant: If I’m too skinny, if I’ve had a boob job, if I train too much, how I do my makeup, how I dress… We struggle internally trying to please everyone without losing our own identity. Do you know how draining that is? Then, I said, “Enough. I’m tired, this hurts.” Instead of enjoying a tour that I dreamed so much about, I was suffering because of someone who writes from behind a screen.
What advice would you give to artists who feel similarly?
I’m currently in the process of learning to take care of myself. Going to therapy is beneficial for me; it helps me to think about what my limits are, what I want to share about my private life and what I want to keep for myself. I am a public figure, and those who listen to my music expect to know about me and see me beyond the shows. With my team, we seek a balance so that this ecosystem functions.
How could the entertainment industry better support artists?
I don’t know if [the problem] is the music industry. Everything I said before about what’s expected of female artists affects our self-esteem and puts an overexertion [on us] that ultimately generates a very large emotional imbalance. But the social media phenomenon has produced something where everyone needs to give their opinions. People express whatever they want, whenever they want, and while I greatly respect freedom of speech, this has turned into both a personal and social compulsion.
What can be done to create more open discussions on this topic in the industry?
The problem is not about talking; it’s what we do about it. How do we raise awareness of what is going on? What tools do people have to ask for help? I have the privilege of being able to pay for a psychologist, a health plan. But what about young people who are victims of cyberbullying and have no one to turn to? Who helps them? Talking about this in the media with responsibility could be a start, but I don’t have the formula. I’m just now learning to take care of myself and protect myself, and all of that is a long process.
This story appears in the Sept. 28, 2024, issue of Billboard.